Applying for Re-Assignment under the For a Safe Maternity Experience Program

To apply for re-assignment under the For a Safe Maternity Experience program, you must:

determine whether your job actually involves hazards to your health or to that of your child

by contacting the physician in charge of health services at your workplace (no consultation is required because the physician is well acquainted with the workplace)

by consulting your attending physician, to whom you will have to describe the nature of your duties and the conditions in which you perform them

if the physician deems the work dangerous, have him or her complete and sign the Preventive withdrawal and re-assignment certificate for a pregnant or breast-feeding worker (if the form is completed by your attending physician, he or she will have to consult the physician in charge of health services at your workplace or the physician designated by the director of public health for the region in which your workplace is located; otherwise the certificate will not be valid)

give the certificate to your employer and ensure that the physician sends a copy to the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (it is also recommended that you keep a copy for your personal records).

If the employer cannot re-assign you to other duties, you are entitled, through your right to preventive withdrawal, to stop working and receive indemnities.

NoteYou may not apply for preventive withdrawal directly. The Preventive withdrawal and re-assignment certificate for a pregnant or breast-feeding worker constitutes a request for re-assignment. You may only exercise your right to preventive withdrawal if you cannot be re-assigned to other duties.

The certificate is valid either for the period in which you are pregnant or for that in which you are nursing. As a result, if you were re-assigned or took preventive withdrawal when you were pregnant you will have to submit a new request for re-assignment or preventive withdrawal for the period in which you will breast-feed your child.